Thunderbolt Reboot Issue

My apologies if there is already a topic for this. I didn't see it if there is. What is Verizon doing to fix this very troublesome problem? I updated my TB with the OTA update and now my phone is just screwed up. Reboots every hour or two. Battery life is less then two hours now and that's with it being in Airplane mode and all the radios and gps turned off. And it's no better when I switch to 3g. I'm certainly upset that this download was still even available being that they customers haveing been complaining for days now. Seriously Verizon, take it down before others destroy their phones too.

Accepted answers

shawnshine

At this very moment, 6:43pm cdt., I am downloading the new software release. It is taking a while to download. Will update as soon as I have it done.

All comments

TBhouston

useally with software issues there isn't anything you can do until it gets resolved. Have you tried to do a master reset yet? It has helped some people i've heard

shawnshine

Yeah, I tried that on suggestion of a few others on the andriod forums. No go. While it erases your data and resets the basic look back to factory, it does NOT reset the firmware or software update. I verified this by copying the phones software and firmware version to notepad and checked the versions after reset. It rebooted almost exactly one hour after resetting. I've also noticed that my GPS no longer works, sound quality is really tinny now and my 4g signil (which was typically 3bars) is now 0 bars and is sitting on 1x (not even 3g now).

shawnshine

Ok, I have a work-a-round. It's not the best solution, but it's working at least. Through some trial and error my phone is working on 3g and not rebooting (so far). There are lots of suggestions out there that the problem is My Verizon apps or a problem with the network causing the 4g radio to make the phone reboot. For now, my belief is that the 4g radio is definitly involved, but wether it's a symptom or cause I can't say. Also, I can't guareentee that any of this will work for you, I just know that it worked for me. And one final note, I can not say whether any of these steps are absolutly neccessary and critical or if they are just ineffectual.

1) Download App2SD and move all the apps you can to your sd card.

2) Backup all your contacts via the Verizon Back Assistant.

3) Writedown or make note of the Apps you have and any special icons you have for your home screens. (Just makes setting everything back up easier).

4)Power off your phone. Take off back cover. Remove battery. Remove the SD Card. Remove the SIM card.

5). Replace the battery and power on.

6) Go to Menu/Settings/SD and Phone Storage/Factory Data Reset (Heed the warning: this removes most of the data on your phone and generally restores it back to Factory Like Settings. I say Factory Like because it does not revert back to the previous Firmware and it doesn't actually remove ALL the data. If you search your files you'll see that some files are still available. As a matter of fact I still had several Apps that remained installed in the internal storage. Passwords/User Data however recieves the kabash.

7) Once it reboots it asks you to go through some intial setup steps the same as when you first got your phone. You can skip these steps as you'll reset the data one more time. Ignore the No SIM card errors.

8) At this point, if you try and put back in the SIM card, you'll notice that you'll probably have one of two things (both happened to me). You'll have 4g, but it starts rebooting again at some point and your battery will be sucked dry. Or you'll be stuck at 1x they way the phones did when Verizon had the LTE outage a while back. The next steps should fix that.

9) We are going to switch from 4g to 3g and force the 3g radio to revert back to the standard 3g signal. To do this you will need to get into a few of the internal settings. On your phone dailer key in *#*#4636#*#* You'll be taken to the Testing Menu. Tap on Phone Information. Scroll down and click on Set Preferred Network Type and select CDMA auto (PRL) then back button to your home screen. This switches you from 4g to 3g.

10) Next we want to set 3g to it use's the standard 3g protocol. Changing this forces the phone to remain in 3g mode instead of bouncing back and forth between 3g/1x. My expierence is that it just stays at 1x anyway. To change this, again, key in ##778# and press send. Select "Edit Mode". The password is 000000 and click ok. The EPST menu opens up. Tap on Modem Settings. Tap on REV. A. Now select Enable instead of eHRPD and click OK. Now tap Menu and and tap Commit Modifications. Go to your home screen.

11) Reboot the phone again. Once it powers back on repeat steps 6 & 7.

12) Before you power on the phone, replace the SIM card. Power back on. Don't worry the SD Card comes after we're done and we're ready to set up the phone with our settings. Once it comes back you will have the Intial Setup steps. Complete those now.

13) If all went well, the phone is reset to factory like settings and your Thunderbolt will be in 3g mode and you shouldn't have anymore annoying reboots, battery issues, or just wierd random behavior due to the major Over The Air (OTA) Software Update FAIL from Verizon.

14) You can know re-install the SD Card and begin setting your phone back up. If you moved all your apps to the SD Card they should start re-installing themselves automagically.

Some of these steps are my own and some are borrowed from others in the forums. I hope this works for you and keeps you going until Verizon and HTC can provide a real fix.

shawnshine

I've gotten a little bit of feedback from other forums that indicates that if you have already done a hard reset once, you won't neccessarily need to do it again and that simply switching to 3G and setting the 3G to Enabled instead of the eHRPD is enough. I have to tell you, that since I set it this way last week, I have not had a single ghost reboot. (Disclaimer: However prior to doing the hard reset, when I did switch to 3G it did ghost reboot, but not since the hard reset).

So Amendment to the above instructions, if you have already done a hard reboot and restored your data, just switch to 3G and you should be ok. If not, then try all the steps.

Hope this keeps you from doing unneccesary resets and redownloading your data again and again. Best of luck. And post please to let us know how it works for you or if you have another alternative.

JeramyKeith

yeah same reboot issue here and since the firmware update last week, mines gotten worse

to make things even worse if that were possible, the Verizon 2nd level tech support say there is NO KNOWN issue with the thunderbolts and its just a few phones out there that have done that.

No fix ohter then swapped out for a REFURBISHED phone, i havnt had my new one for 2 months yet, why should i accept a refurb? I know they are like new but that is NOT the point.

shawnshine

Whether you should trade in a new device for a "like new" or "refurb" really depends on how badly you want a phone that use's 4G and doesn't rebooted constantly. I always advise against trading in a new phone for refurbs just based solely on the fact that a refurb is exactly that, a refurb. It is a phone someone else did not want for one reason or another. Do you want to inherit that problem? Unless your phone is bricked or physically broken, you shouldn't have to trade in a two month old phone because Verizon issued a bad firmware update. Read the various forums and you'll see that Verizon Support is anything but and some people have had nightmare experiences having to trade in again and again. Mind you that it's probably a very small percentage comparatively, but, you role the dice each time you trade in. I say ditch the 4G for now and roll 3G until they fix it or Gingerbread comes out. If nothing else is wrong with your phone or you don't really need 4G, there's no reason to trade in. On the other hand if you have just got to get that speed fix, then by all means trade it in. Just don't leave the store until they PROVE the phone does not have the new firmware or any other issues.

ae4465

My first thunderbolt i had was find until i install the update . I waited us mush as possible to get a refurb but after my 5 factory reset i had it . They sent me a refurb one and as soon i open the box i sent it back . The packaging was terrible all they did was to put the phone inside the box with out protecting it or securing it inside the box. The second one i sent back because it wasn't rebooting it was shutting off . That's when i talked to a tech supervisor and i told her an ear full. So they told me they were sending me a new phone not a refurb one. So if you decide to get a refub one be careful inspected good

shawnshine

ALL, It has been suggested to me (more like shouted at) that this is NOT a 4G issue (take it with a grain of salt. a lot of salt). That this is, in fact, a problem with 3G eHRPD and and how the phone and towers handle signal hand-offs. In particular I'm told that by turning off eHRPD I've masked the problem by disabling the cause inadvertently thinking it was a 4G issue and trying to force the phone from 1x into standard 3G. Maybe, maybe not. We'll see. A friend (the shouter) an I were reading some of the forums and he came across a post that came supposedly from a "cellular tech" (whatever that means) that says that the standard 3G protocol for Verizon is that it only handles data and that the eHRPD protocol is what enables simultaneous Voice and Data in 3G. Anyone out there that confirm this please post. We are experimenting with setting our phones into 4G LTE only mode (no 3G at all) and we're hoping for positive results. It seems that more and more posts are starting to pop up where people who are in 4G coverage all day have few in any reboots, but once they get to a 3G area the reboots start up again. I will post back tomorrow if I've had any issues with it. But, with 100% certainty, I can say with 3G standard only (no eHRPD) I've had NO problems what-so-ever, and I've had decent battery life to boot.

shawnshine

Dave, you are wrong! {please keep your posts courteous}) 6 reboots in the last 24 hours that I know of. Apparently the theory that it's the eHRPD and not 4G is off the table now. Going back to the 3G setting and we'll see if someone else can come up with something else.

Ann154

There is several threads discussing the same issue in the Thunderbolt forum.

This link go to to an interesting post.

http://community.vzw.com/t5/ThunderBolt-by-HTC/Rebooting-after-update/m-p/550878#M4839

unknown

shawnshine,

Thanks for all of your suggestions. We do recognize that there is an issue causing multiple Thunderbolts to constantly reboot. Our product team is working with HTC to determine the root cause, repair and test this issue. As soon as we have a permanent fix available, we will communicate that to all of our customers and push a new software update to the devices.

Thank you and we apologize for any inconvenience for this issue.

Tacheon

I live in Portland, OR. No 4G yet. I got my Thunderbolt in April. I have had this problem for awhile. I know Ive done an update but dont know when. When I check my phone it dosent show any info (all blank fields) in update status. Heck, I can even use the My Verizon App on my phone. When I contacted Verizon A few days ago they said they hadent heard of this problem. Maybe a cluless tech. Not so worried about 4G as I am with my phone auto rebooting 2-3 times a day.

Chubby22

I haven't had a re-boot since doing the MR2 radio update. Matter of fact, my battery life has improved significantly as well....

Synycalwon

I too have not had one single reboot since flashing the leaked MR2 RUU (non-rooted) June 10. This includes last week while driving from Alabama to Colorado and back. Also got to experience 4G LTE the entire time in Denver without any issue or difference in battery drain (used the extended battery the entire time, charged every other day). Last I heard, there may be an OTA update June 30. Some say it is MR2 or MR2.5 or even includes Gingerbread. Who knows what or when. Here's to hoping it will bring stability to the Thunderbolt. It really is an awesome phone! :smileytongue:

shawnshine

At this very moment, 6:43pm cdt., I am downloading the new software release. It is taking a while to download. Will update as soon as I have it done.

budone

This DL is slow as molassas

Ann154

Must be pretty big then, huh?

shawnshine

Just finished installing and rebooting. Took about 30-35 minutes total. Already I see some cosmetic changes. Now it's time to start playing around to see what it does. :smileyhappy:

shawnshine

The 3G symbol has changed. The startup splash screen has about 2 seconds of clouds and sound then goes to a black screen with the Thunderbolt (with lightening symbole) for a 5 seconds. VCAST Apps store gives a could not connect errors. VCAST Videos is back but still doesn't support Wi-Fi connections. Unhappy. The new data widget is pretty nifty. I like that. GPS doesn't feel like it's connecting any better or worse then before. I guess it's a wait and see game now to see if it fixes everything or to find out if it broke something else.

budone

74MB

Ann154 wrote:
Must be pretty big then, huh?

Hollentour

So much for fixing the reboot issue. My Tbolt is still rebooting.

The only thing the update did was stop the free Hotspot.

Class action?